Last week I showed you an unknown Italian woman in pink and ivory with gold.  While late Renaissance fashions aren’t always the most popular, you felt that this was the best possible variant of the silhouette (though you were a bit squicked out as to the probable point of the portrait – to advertise the marriageability of the very young lady). (I’ll get the tallied score up shortly – I’m currently occupied cuddling Felicity, and I can’t add them up without kicking her off my lap 😉 UPDATE: And, now, the score!  Despite a few people who really didn’t like the dress (and possibly disliked it even more because everyone else loved it, because that’s how the human brain works ;-)), and a few high scores that I had to ignore because they were weird fractions (I’m sorry!  Please spare my poor brain and keep your ratings to whole or half scores!  Adding up gets far too complicated if I have  to deal with 7.3 and 5.6s!)  our lady was pretty in pink with 8.7 …

Last week I showed you Joanna of Castille in full turn of the  16th century traditional Spanish royal attire – traditional in the sense that even within her own time, it was a historical costume.  Though the pseudo-pregnant look wasn’t popular in a modern sense, you gave the dress points for being exactly what a Queen’s ensemble should be: striking, regal, and elegant, so it came in at a very impressive 8.8 out of 10. While last week’s dress looked to the past and tradition for its inspiration, and was full of subtle meaning and allusions, this week’s dress is all about the latest technology, and relies on simple, bold, almost blunt design for its impact. This mid 1860s dress from the Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti is made from lavish amounts of silk satin dyed in the latest shade of aniline yellow.  The bold yellow hue is further highlighted by the use of contrasting black lace trim.  The lace is quite modern in design, and was possibly machine-made, further highlighting the dresses modernity. …